TUESDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Facial implants that use high-resolution computed tomography modeling allow surgeons to achieve excellent results during facial reconstruction surgery following trauma, according to a report in the November/December issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.
Michael J. Groth, M.D., of the Jules Stein Eye Institute in Los Angeles, and colleagues evaluated nine patients (five men and four women), aged 28 to 63 years with complex orbitofacial bone defects after trauma, all of whom underwent reconstruction using custom, heat-cured polymethyl methacrylate implants, and were followed-up for postoperative complications. The reconstruction was conducted from one month to 40 years after the injury occurred.
All nine cases had uneventful healing and there were no significant complications, such as infection or implant extrusion or displacement. The patients were followed-up for a mean of 4.3 years and the implants were well-tolerated with long-term, sustained improvement in their facial deformities.
"We believe that the advantages of customization and long-term efficacy reported in this article far outweigh potential complications in complex orbital reconstruction, which requires precise implant customization to provide function improvement," the authors conclude.
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